September 2010

Twenty years ago I had one password that was pretty secure even back then. Today I have over 100 accounts that require a password and can only remember them because of Excel. Using secure passwords is prudent because your passwords can be hacked. Yet secure passwords are difficult to remember, hence the need to store […]

Excel for Mac 2011 will be released October 26th and is available for pre-order on Amazon now. I’m excited about the return of VBA. Pre-order your copy of Excel for Mac 2011 now. (affiliate link) In the video below they discuss Office for Mac 2011, but at one point they mention a beta tester generating […]

Once upon a time I was working with an unfamiliar Excel spreadsheet and came across a formula that used a Name, which I figured for a constant value and thought it hidden somewhere in the worksheet, yet couldn’t find it anywhere. It never dawned on me that a value doesn’t have to reside in a […]

What’s in a Name? It could be a worksheet cell, a single range, or a non-contiguous range that you want to give a name to in Excel. Mercifully the Name box is one quick way to name a range. Name a Range with the Name Box To create a Name with the Name box: Select […]

The Name box is a quick and easy way to move around and select ranges in a large spreadsheet. While writing this post I also discovered you can select multiple, non-contiguous ranges with it. The Name box is located next to the Formula bar, however in Excel 2008 for Mac, Formula Bar has to be […]

The Name box is left of the Formula bar and has a lot of uses. One is to show the recently used Function list when entering or editing a formula. It’s a simple matter to quickly see the functions you’ve recently used in Excel. Enter an equals sign (=) into any cell, then click the […]

There’s a neat trick you can use to copy a picture of a spreadsheet in Excel 2003 or Excel 2008 for Mac. It’s great for getting a spreadsheet snapshot into your presentation software. First you select the range you want to copy, then hold the shift key down while you click the Edit menu. What […]

A new feature in Excel 2010 is the ability to insert an image from any program that is currently running on your computer and not minimized to the task bar.You can also select Screen Clipping, which gives the ability to capture part of the screen. First make sure the program you want to capture has […]

When your stuck entering a lot decimal places, have Excel make your life a little easier by entering them for you automatically. To set a fixed number of decimal places, go to Excel Options, Advanced tab, check Automatically Insert a Decimal Point, and set the Places box to the proper number of decimal places, then […]

You’ve probably seen a conversion chart that takes US fractions and converts them to a decimal equivalent. However, when you need to know the decimal equivalent of 7/16 or 5/32, there’s no chart to be found. And if you’re working on a project that requires more than a few conversions, using a calculator or conversion […]